The Coney Island Boom a Ring!

Photos courtesy of Feld Entertainment

With Cirque du Soleil and the Big Apple Circus (not to mention a host of smaller troupes) already boasting NYC summer residencies, it may seem strange that the folks behind “The Greatest Show on Earth” decided to throw their sequined hat into a ring seemingly as crowded as a clown car. But the marriage of Coney Island (whose future is still up in the air) and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey makes sense: They’re both raucous, colorful, gleeful crowd-pleasers.

Unlike the company’s overwhelming Madison Square Garden spectacles, Boom a Ring! is an intimate experience. During the preshow, which begins an hour before curtain, audiences are invited to swing on the trapeze, pose on the Wheel of Steel, try on costumes and meet the performers, including Diana Vedyashkina’s adorable dachshunds and the hunky motorcycling Urias Brothers. It’s an amazing interactive treat, not to mention a fantastic family photo op. There’s also an animal open house, but frankly, it’s not as thrilling. The white tigers snooze behind multiple sets of bars, and a trio of elephants—long a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey staple despite protests from animal-rights groups—just look bored.

No matter how you feel about wild animals in the circus (and in truth, most kids adore watching them), the fact is, Boom a Ring! doesn’t need them; its human acts are much more astounding. There are the hilarious physical antics and impressive juggling skills of Vas & Stas. Karl Winn dares gravity to catch him as he balances on the Wheel of Steel. The Urias Brothers rev up the audiences with their cycling tricks, while the Negrey Troupe draw awe as they flip and fly through the air. Right after finishing with her sextet of tigers, the stunning Vicenta Pages doffs her cape and flawlessly transitions into an amazing (and much more interesting) aerial act.

But the highlight of the show is Justin Case, billed as a “Specialty Eccentric Personality.” With his vintage garb (including head goggles à la Snoopy), fake French accent (perhaps a dig at Cirque du Soleil) and his brilliant nonstop vaudevillian patter (“Keeds, you want to practees being in zee circus? Zen practees living een your car!”), he is a clown extraordinaire. But he also performs incredible bike stunts, including riding a cycle so tiny you can barely see it through a ring of fire. His finely tuned blend of silliness and skill seems particularly at home on the boardwalk: There’s no doubt that the self-declared freaks at the sideshow down the block would welcome him as one of their own.—Raven Snook

The Coney Island Boom a Ring! is playing at the Boardwalk through Sept 7. $10–$65.

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